After the CTF report: Where to next?

Imanuddin Razak ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 07/18/2008 11:17 AM  |  Opinion

The release of a report by the joint Indonesia-Timor Leste Commission for Truth and Friendship (CTF) on Tuesday has drawn mixed reactions, both at home and abroad.

All parties, with varying degrees of acceptance and satisfaction, said they would accept the report's findings and the position taken by the bilateral commission in its conclusions and recommendations.

Yet critics condemned the subsequent failure of both governments -- especially the Indonesians -- to apologize as recommended by the report, and instead merely express regret over the atrocities which transpired before, during and after the 1999 East Timor independence referendum.

The CTF report concluded gross human rights violations took place in East Timor in 1999, including murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence, torture, illegal detentions and the forcible transfer and deportation of civilians.

It also concluded pro-autonomy (pro-Indonesia) militia groups, the Indonesian Military (TNI), the Indonesian government and the Indonesian Police (Polri) were responsible for rights violations against civilians they perceived as supporting the pro-independence cause.

The question now is where does the public go from here, having contemplated the essence of the commission's two-and-a-half-year-long inquiry?

Some elements of the general public, primarily legal and rights activists, are still unable to condone the fact both the Indonesian and Timor Leste administrations have accepted the commission's report and have agreed to consider it the closing chapter on what occurred during the period, in a bid to heal the wounds of the victims and lay a foundation for stronger relations between the two neighbors.

They disagreed with several parts of the commission's report which said pro-autonomy militia, military, police and government leaders bore "institutional responsibility" for all the violations. They called for the opening (or reopening) of investigations into the alleged perpetrators in the 1999 mayhem, after a series of legal cases failed to satisfy human rights groups and the international community because all of the suspects were eventually acquitted.

It is true the report's recognition of institutional responsibility means the perpetrators of the violence can be brought to justice. And that is what the Indonesian government should do by facilitating fair and transparent prosecutions into the 1999 East Timor violence -- no matter the results. This will help restore the public's trust, both domestically and internationally, in the Indonesian judicial system.

A transparent prosecution at home will also help prevent the "internationalization" of the now bilateral legal and human rights case, with attempts underway to bring the case before international courts.

Such a prosecution, however, demands fair treatment and a thorough understanding of the 1999 East Timor mayhem itself as an issue that was driven by politics.

The report reads: "There were multiple causes of the conflict in 1999, which are complex and interrelated. Some of these causes doubtless go back to at least 1974 and the events ensuing from the end of the Portuguese colonial presence (in East Timor) ... The nature of the violence that occurred in 1999 was shaped by previous patterns of conflict."

Perhaps the international community still remembers the documents detailing conversations between then Indonesian president Soeharto and former U.S. president Gerald Ford and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in the months and days leading up to the Dec. 7, 1975, "invasion" of East Timor by TNI soldiers.

The documents, initially declared classified, were declassified 25 years after the incident. They included discussions between the three of the planned invasion, with Kissinger's suggestion on Dec. 6, 1975, that "it would be better if (the invasion) were done after we returned".

All the evidence therefore suggests and confirms the 1999 mayhem was indeed a complex, multilateral issue, involving high-level political decisions. Any subsequent legal proceedings should thus consider the fact the Indonesian government, including officials involved in the decision making, was not the only culprit behind the 1999 tragedy.

An international inquiry into the 1999 incident should include external evidence, such as the U.S. documents.

Also an item for consideration is the fact East Timor's 24-year involvement with Indonesia was not outright gloomy, with Indonesia providing funds and infrastructure sorely missing from the previous Portuguese occupation.

The international community should exercise its judgment when considering the consequences of such prosecutions, especially since the results may be beyond their expectations.

The author is a staff writer at The Jakarta Post.

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